Thursday, August 18, 2016

A divine dine at Daiko!

Last night I had dinner with some friends at a new restaurant that opened just a few months ago. The restaurant, Daiko, features a combination of Canadian, Comfort Food, and South Asian cuisines. It was interesting seeing traditional foods infused together to create different plates with new flavour profiles.

As an appetizer, bowls of buttery, cheesy popcorn were offered to our table. I love popcorn and it was much better than having baskets of bread and butter. Popcorn is such an addictive snack. These were kicked up with a little spice. The sad part was that there wasn’t enough!

For my starter, I had the Tuna Tartare. It was a lovely mixture of yellow fin tuna, curried avocado, ginger puffed rice, pickled cucumber, and blue corn tortillas. So yummy! Creamy, tangy, with a light spice. I loved the various textures in each bite.

Tuna Tartare.

For my main, I had the Tandoori Fried Chicken offered as a half meal. It was a great dish of buttermilk fried chicken, salsa verde dipping sauce, and a bowl of spiced cauliflower Mornay. Again, the different textures, flavours, and food combinations went so well together.

Fried Chicken.

Now, you’re probably wondering why I’m doing a food review on a tea blog, right? Well, this brings me to dessert. The final component of my fabulous feast, was a Masala Chai Ice Cream. I normally don’t go for ice-cream as a dessert in restaurants if I ever do have dessert. I think it is way too easy. However, I was curious about this ice-cream and wanted to write about it too.

It was a Darjeeling infused ice-cream, with cardamom, and cinnamon. It came beautifully presented in a teacup. The ice-cream contained pieces of pistachio, a compote of mixed berries on the side, and topped with a wafer and a sprig of mint. The different levels of flavours and textures hit bang on again. I could detect some tea flavour, but it wasn’t overpowering. Perhaps an Assam would have made a bolder statement? It was a good dessert. Nothing spectacular, but it is ice-cream. There is only so much you can do with ice-cream, hence, the reason why I never go for it at restaurants.

Masala Chai Ice-cream.

I enjoyed eating at Daiko, and am already thinking about my return to try some of the other dishes on the menu. The presentation was fantastic, and the combinations of the various foods was interesting and delicious. Finally, the staff was wonderful. Attentive, courteous, and always smiling. A great dining experience!

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Coffee, Tea or Me?

The Teaologist

I am a lifelong tea drinker and a Certified Tea Sommelier! I’m also a globetrotter, an avid runner, and a big foodie. I’m a pretty private person so setting up this blog is a big step for me to expose myself, though it is centred on tea. It also gives me a chance to re-discover my creative side through writing, photography, and even cooking. I also have a very quirky sense of humour and will joke on just about anything! Really, I'm a bit of a goofball!